Naomi Alderman returns with her series that explores the minds of the greatest thinkers in history. From political theorists to scientists to inventors, authors and artists. Our world is based on their ideas and innovations. How did they do their work, what did they struggle with, where did they find their dedication, creativity and inspiration?Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights sent shockwaves through Victorian society when it was published, and it is a novel that continues to stir debate and discussion today. What can we learn of the mind that conjured up such a piece of work? And how did her reclusive nature bring greater depth and focus to her writing?Special thanks to Dr Claire O’Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in Victorian Literature at Loughborough University.Produced by BBC Studios in partnership with The Open University.
Naomi Alderman returns with a new series of the programme that examines the minds of great thinkers and discovers where their creativity came from and how they applied it to work that influences us today. She begins with Emily Brontë, whose Wuthering Heights has spawned many remakes, and asks if her reclusive nature contributed to the intensity of her writing. The Behind the Glass: A Parsonage podcast from the Brontë Museum in Haworth takes an in-depth look at items in its collection, plus social issues that would have affected the family. (Clair Woodward)
The Brontë Parsonage is a must-visit and will help you learn more about the sisters’ lives through immersive exhibitions.If you are up for a walk, the Brontë waterfall and bridge that was often visited by the sisters is a 45-minute walk away.To explore more of the surrounding area, you can get a Day Rover ticket for the heritage steam train that runs along the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.For food, you might want to stop at Cobbles and Clay for either some breakfast or a hearty sandwich for lunch.The café also serves a range of hot and cold drinks alongside plenty of homemade cakes to choose from.If you are looking for somewhere to treat yourself, you could try the Hawthorn restaurant that offers seasonal dishes created using local ingredients. (Amy Britton)
Different eras posed different challenges. For instance, trying to represent the whole of 20th-century literature by means of 10 books felt like trying, in Emily Brontë’s words, to plant an oak tree in a flower pot (...) [The quote is from Chapter XIV and goes like this:He might as well plant an oak in a flowerpot, and expect it to thrive, as imagine he can restore her to vigour in the soil of his shallow cares!]Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. The first reviewers were horrified – “How a human being could have attempted such a book… without committing suicide before he had finished a dozen chapters, is a mystery,” declared one American critic – and poor Emily Brontë died at 30 within a year of publication, not knowing her only novel would come to be seen as the masterwork of Victorian fiction.What raises Wuthering Heights above other love stories, including Emily’s sister Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, is the way it conveys passion as a physical force, as irresistible as gravity and potentially as dangerous. Adaptations never do the book justice, because capturing the elemental essence of “imp of Satan” Heathcliff and his lover/possible half-sister Cathy is trickier than taming tigers. (Jake Kerridge)
[FR] Leavis was correct that Gwendolen is one of the great heroines of Victorian literature, more tragic and impulsive than Elizabeth Bennet, more dashing and winsome than Jane Eyre. And he was also right that the book’s Jewish chapters can be mawkish in places. But what he missed was how insightful they are. (Josh Glancy)
The play takes a few liberties with the historical Brontë sisters — Emily, Charlotte and Anne — who were never simultaneously at the Roe Head School for Girls. But that matters little for the purposes of the charming ghost story that Zolidis has created. Emily (Taylor Curtis) seeks to understand why her mother died young and spins a series of tales aimed at relieving her sense of loss. (For Brontë enthusiasts, there will be the added poignancy of knowing that Emily herself would live only to age 30.)At the final dress rehearsal seen by The News-Gazette, director Emily Ritter’s production appeared to need more rehearsal time given the challenges faced in performance. Although the playwright estimates a 90-minute performance, the Twin City production adds 45 minutes to that. In comedy, less can often be more, and the trick is to know when to simplify. (Jeffrey Eric Jenkins)
Maybe my surroundings influenced me a little? After all, there are the Brontë ladies, and The Railway Children – that part of Yorkshire is steeped in literature, and there’s a lot of creativity around. (Phil Penfold)
2. Kate Bush - Wuthering HeightsOne of the most famous literary-influenced pop songs, young Kate’s adaptation of Emily Bronte’s dark romance from 1847 made the UK Number One spot in 1978. Kate chose the song because she realised that she shared a birthday with the writer: 30 July.
Saltmoore’s greatest strength, though, is how deeply rooted it feels in Yorkshire. Rather than shutting the landscape out, it welcomes it in full force. The dramatic coastline is only moments away, while the moors, wild, untamed and romantic, provide a backdrop that changes. It’s no surprise these are the landscapes that not only inspired Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights but also welcomed a new generation of visitors when Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi brought the story back to the big screen earlier this year. If you want to explore further and find out more, you can drive around to see the filming locations, but you might need some welly boots for rambles across the heathers. (Soraya Gaied Chortane)
13. "I loved listening to Thandiwe Newton reading Jane Eyre even more than I loved reading it myself, and it was already one of my favorite books."
Weeks after the 2025 release of the remastered version of Buckingham Nicks, Nicks appeared on the music podcast Song Exploder to discuss the concept of the album’s hit track “Frozen Love.”The song is about “two people that were in love, that had a lot of differences and saw the world slightly differently, but had this relationship that seemed to be like a gift,” Nicks said.“I like to think of it as Wuthering Heights or Great Expectations — a modern day love affair, tragedies,” she added. “Because nobody really loves happy songs. Certainly I didn’t, and neither really did Lindsey. (Inga Parkel)
BBC Four reairs tonight (21:40 h GMT) The Brontës Live Here: Writer's Houses with Margaret Drabble visiting the Parsonage in 1973. The influencer and writer Carolina Müller recommends Wuthering Heights in Alternativo (México). The Sunday Guardian (India) lists ficional character with powerful life lessons, including Jane Eyre.
The Collision Canon - A Literary Mashup Thrillers"Julian Harborough"ISBN: 9798182146203July 2026Jane Eyre meets Frankenstein.Jane has never asked Thornfield Hall to make sense. The sounds from the locked floor at night, the housekeeper's careful non-answers, the master's grief that sits behind his charm like a second person in the room. Jane has survived worse than a house with secrets. What she has never faced before is loving a man who has done something she cannot forgive... but cannot stop trying to.Edward Rochester did not lock a madwoman in his attic. He locked away the thing he built there. A living being, assembled in grief and brilliance, and a desperate refusal to accept his young son's death, four years and one terrible secret ago. It became something he never intended to create: articulate, self-aware, lonelier than anything Jane has ever met, and entirely uncertain what it owes the man who made it, or what he owes it in return.When Jane finally climbs the stairs she has been told never to climb, she does not find a monster. She finds a question neither Brontë nor Shelley had to answer alone: what does a person made rather than born have the right to demand? And what does loving the man who made him cost the woman who loves him?The Creature in the Attic keeps Jane's unflinching, self-examining voice exactly as it should be, and asks it to confront what neither novel could explore on its own. This is gothic romance with its conscience fully switched on, where the horror is not a monster in the dark but the weight of what one brilliant, frightened man was willing to do for love.Book Two of the Collision Canon. A series in which the greatest novels ever written begin, one book at a time, to bleed into each other.
One of the world’s most high-profile environmental campaigners has warned against Saudi-backed plans to build one of the country’s biggest windfarms on the wild moorland that was the inspiration for Wuthering Heights.Walshaw Moor, near Halifax in West Yorkshire, is designated as a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area due to its rare peatland habitat and red-listed bird species, including curlews, lapwings, skylarks, merlins, and golden plovers.The ruined farmhouse on top of the moor is said to have inspired the novel by Emily Brontë, which shot to prominence again earlier this year with Emerald Fennell’s movie adaptation starring Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie.Despite its legal protections, the developers are pushing ahead with plans to build 34 wind turbines – at 200m more than 40m higher than the Blackpool Tower – and a battery energy storage system, known as Calderdale Energy Park.MPs from Labour and the Conservatives have objected to the project, highlighting the fact that the scheme would cover more than 2,300 hectares of protected peatland, one of the UK’s most important natural carbon stores.Now Sadhguru, a spiritual yogi who is the leader of the Save Soil movement and one of the most famous campaigners in India, told The Yorkshire Post that certain soil types like peatland “must be prioritised” over developments.He said: “Preserving agricultural land and soil health is a generational responsibility.“We are just pop ups on this planet, and our actions have an impact on generations to come.“Whether it is peatlands or any kind of soil, construction can definitely cause its damage.“It’s not that all development is negative, and renewable energy sources are needed - but certain soil types are unique in their ability to regulate our climate, are essential for the surrounding biodiversity, and their future prosperity must be prioritised.” (Ralph Blackburn)
But these are not isolated cases: recently, the same technique has been used in other movies with historical backdrops such as Macbeth (Justin Kurzel, 2015), Lady Macbeth (William Oldroyd, 2016), The King (David Michôd, 2019), The Wonder (Sebastián Lelio, 2022), The Northman (Robert Eggers, 2022), Firebrand (Karim Aïnouz, 2023) and Wuthering Heights (Emerald Fennel, 2026). And last year Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet entered the Oscars race with that same visual register used also in French blockbusters such as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan, and Spanish movies from Alatriste to El Cautivo.In all these cases, the absence of color tells us we are watching an important film, suitable both for an award and box office success, as discussed by the artist and scholar David Batchelor in his book Chromophobia (Ed. Síntesis), originally published in 2000. According to Batchelor, this expulsion of color usually takes place in one of two ways. In the first, the color is attributed to some “foreign” body: the oriental, the feminine, the infantile, the vulgar, or the pathological — or by relegating it to the realm of the superficial, the supplementary, the inessential, or the cosmetic. In the first case, the color is considered something strange and, therefore, dangerous; in the second, it is perceived simply as a secondary quality of experience and, therefore, unworthy of serious consideration. (Ianko López)
The booksellers say the surge in interest followed a similar pattern after other film adaptations earlier this year for The Wuthering Heights and Project Hail Mary. (Isra'a Emhail)
Entertainment can often be a way for us to switch off. This year what’s on our screens has frequently been aimed at turning us on. From the sensual pleasures of “Wuthering Heights” to the steamy shower scenes in “Heated Rivalry”, sex has been front and center in a slew of recent hits in ways that might previously have made them ineligible to be mainstream cultural powerhouses. It’s safe to say horniness is having a moment. (David Mack)
Charlotte Brontë, the author of “Jane Eyre,” who died, at thirty-eight, a few months into pregnancy, in 1855, experienced “sensations of perpetual nausea and ever-recurring faintness,” according to her biographer and friend Elizabeth Gaskell. Though her death certificate lists the cause of death as phthisis, or tuberculosis, contemporary scholars believe she died of complications from H.G. (Anna Russell)
Wed 9 Sept, 7:00pmOnline via ZoomRuth from Fact to Fiction tells the story of Elizabeth Gaskell’s involvement with a young prostitute in Manchester’s New Bailey prison and the novel she wrote based on this encounter. Discover why Ruth was considered so controversial that it was burned on the steps of the Cross St Chapel in Manchester...Livi Michael has written award-winning novels for adults, young adults and children. Her short stories have been published in various places including Granta and Fictive Dream, and in The Best British Short Stories (Salt, 2026). Her play, Singers Not Sinners, is about the first three women who were allowed to sing in a choir, and was performed in Oldham in 2022. Livi has taught creative writing in various universities and was Programme Leader of the MA in Publishing at Manchester Metropolitan University. She runs a podcast about short stories with the writer and translator Sonya Moor. Elizabeth and Ruth is her 21st book.
In Twin City Theatre Company’s Stars of Tomorrow production, a rambunctious cast and crew of young theatre-makers barrels full-speed through an exuberantly irreverent reimagining of Emily Brontë’s time at the Roe Head Girls’ School, with a dash of Scooby Doo sprinkled on top for good measure. The play envisions the Brontë sisters’ deceased mother as a skilled necromancer. While Charlotte and Anne are reticent to continue their mother’s legacy, Emily eagerly follows in her mother’s footsteps when a phantom begins terrorizing Roe Head, where Emily and Anne are students and Charlotte is a teacher. Together, they must solve the mystery of the phantom, navigate the onerous expectations placed on young women in the 1800s (or any era, for that matter), and save the school from shutting down once and for all.Emily Ritter makes her directorial debut after performing in the last four Twin City student productions, and most recently Songs for a New World. Ritter marshals a sizeable cast, which ranges in age from elementary school children to recent college graduates. As Emily and Charlotte Brontë, Taylor Curtis and Winnie Blanchfield drive much of the action. Charlotte’s role as a teacher brings her priorities into conflict, forcing her to choose between her job responsibilities and her desire to support the obstinate and irrepressible Emily. That conflict serves as the play’s emotional backbone, as the characters explore the timeless themes of intergenerational misunderstanding. Curtis’s performance as Emily is appropriately single-minded and acerbic. Blanchfield captures the plight of a character stuck between two worlds; Charlotte is no longer one of the girls, but she is also not resigned to settling for an adulthood consumed by a loveless marriage, career advancement, or both. (Douglas Malcolm)
Megan McGinnis: I’m Megan McGinnis, and I’m co-directing this production of Jane Eyre.I actually started my journey with Jane Eyre in 1998. I auditioned to be in the show and wasn’t cast, but I completely fell in love with the musical after seeing it on Broadway many times.Then, in 2009, I began working with John Caird and Paul Gordon on Daddy Long Legs. That production really cemented our creative relationship, and when I directed a new American production of Jane Eyre a couple of years ago, they came into rehearsals and continued developing the piece. I suddenly realised I wasn’t directing a finished musical anymore—I was directing something that was still evolving.When this UK premiere came along, John and Paul invited me to join them as co-director, and I couldn’t be happier that I said yes.Jane Eyre is one of the great literary masterpieces. What was it about Charlotte Brontë’s story that first spoke to you?Megan McGinnis: I first read the novel while I was at college, and it came at exactly the right time in my life.Reading about a woman who was honest about her flaws but still believed she deserved happiness, love and equality was incredibly powerful. Jane never lets society define her worth, even though obstacles are constantly put in her way.Sadly, it’s also a reminder that many of the issues women faced in the 1840s are still relevant today, which is one of the reasons the story continues to resonate with audiences.One of the production’s most interesting creative decisions is that the ensemble all become Jane’s voice at different points throughout the story. How does that work in practice?Megan McGinnis: That’s really the beauty of this adaptation.Everyone on stage becomes part of Jane’s journey, and because the novel is written from her perspective, the ensemble helps carry that narration in a really theatrical way.It also means every member of the company has ownership of the storytelling, and that’s something that has made rehearsals incredibly exciting.
Historic books, which have been chosen for display by Rosemary Wood, Becca Smith, Alice Measom McMahon, and Polly Anna Rosa Steiner, address environmental connections and the use of plants in healing by witches and healers, as well as local representation of witches in the Northwest of England and colonial stereotyping. Books on display include J. G. Frazer’s The Golden Bough, William Harrison Ainsworth’s The Lancashire Witches, and Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea. (Bradley Lengden)
But while this story is a newish angle on the slavery story (perhaps taking some cues from Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved, or Jean Rhys’s novel Wide Sargasso Sea), it isn’t always successful at executing what it sets out to achieve. (Aoife Barry)
But from the moment Claudia arrives and approaches the creepy-looking plantation house on the hill, she is plunged into a Gothic horror. Think hauntings, centuries-old curses and possession by evil entities, all rooted in the West African tradition of obeah. There are echoes here of Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea, plus every horror film that has tried to spook us with unidentifiable noises, doors that suddenly won’t open and disturbing things hidden beneath the floorboards. (Anita Singh)
Indiana was a smash hit and an enduring one, and it’s fair to suggest, as Sampson does, that this “creole romance” had a direct influence on both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. Sand quickly became known in Paris for a literary facility every bit the match for her subversive social persona and lifestyle. (Gregory Day)
«Sea lo que sea de lo que estén hechas nuestras almas, la tuya y la mía son las mismas». Emily Brontë definió a la perfección uno de los amores más tóxicos de la historia de la literatura, que daría pie a las novelas románticas juveniles de nuestros días; aunque parece que hubo un tiempo en que habían desaparecido, simplemente cambiaron de generación. (Diego Rueda) (Translation)
Con el objetivo de fortalecer el hábito de la lectura y generar espacios de convivencia entre la ciudadanía, el Gobierno Municipal de Villa de Pozos, a través de la Biblioteca Municipal "Dr. Francisco de Asís Castro", retomará este martes 4 de agosto las sesiones del Café Literario, un espacio dedicado al análisis de obras literarias y al intercambio de ideas entre las y los participantes.La directora de Bibliotecas, Sofía Narváez, informó que las reuniones se llevan a cabo todos los martes del mes a las 10:00 de la mañana en las instalaciones de la biblioteca. En esta nueva etapa, el libro seleccionado será Cumbres Borrascosas, de la escritora inglesa Emily Brontë, obra que servirá como punto de partida para las actividades de lectura, análisis y diálogo entre los asistentes. (Plano Informativo) (Translation)
Startefacts lists five Wuthering Heights adaptations: Wuthering Heights 1978, Wuthering Heights 2009, Arashi ga oka 1988, Abismos de Pasión 1954 and Hihintayin kita sa langit 1991.
In Emerald Fennell’s 2026 take on Wuthering Heights, costume designer Jacqueline Durran created a theatrical hoop-skirted gown with a sweeping train for Cathy’s ill-fated marriage to Edgar Linton. (Meg Walters)
Are you motivated, creative and looking for a new challenge? We’re looking for a dynamic individual to work as the Museum's Marketing and Development Officer! 🌟The postholder will be responsible for driving visitor numbers and maximising revenue from ticket sales, retail, donations, membership subscriptions and fundraising initiatives.Status: Maternity Cover, Full-time (Oct 2026-Nov 2027)Salary: £29,816Deadline: Mon 31 Aug 2026
by Adriana BartůňkováUniverzita Jana Evangelisty Purkyně V Ústí Nad Labem. Pedagogická FakultaMay 2026Although the novel Wuthering Heights was considered controversial in its time, today it is one of the most important works of British Victorian literature. The main aim of this thesis is to analyze and highlight how the author, Emily Brontë, through aspects of this work, depicts and at the same time criticizes moral norms of the Victorian era in which the novel was published, especially through social relationships and hierarchies. This bachelor's thesis also examines how difficult it was to live with these moral norms in the author's time, especially as a woman.
Zhu Mingzhu, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin, 300380, ChinaJournal of Sociology and Education, Vol. 2 No. 3 (2026)Catherine Earnshaw's suffering in Wuthering Heights is often described as a conflict between two men: Heathcliff, the companion of her childhood, and Edgar Linton, the husband who offers rank and security. This paper reads that conflict less as a romantic choice than as a struggle over forms of life. The moors preserve Catherine's unruly kinship with Heathcliff and her memory of an undivided self; Thrushcross Grange promises comfort, status, and social intelligibility within a patriarchal order. Because the novel places these claims within a world governed by inheritance, class prejudice, and gender discipline, Catherine's marriage to Edgar becomes a compromised attempt to secure a life that she cannot fully inhabit. By examining the novel's spatial symbolism, the social conditions of Catherine's choice, and her own language of selfhood, the paper argues that her tragedy arises from an imposed division between inward identity and social survival. The discussion also considers why Catherine's dilemma continues to speak to contemporary readers, especially where external expectations still press individuals to turn against their own sense of life.
Best Original Song"House" from Wuthering Heights - written by Charli XCX, John Cale, Nathan Klein, Finn Keane | performed by Charli XCX, John Cale
Brontë’s 1849 novel Shirley, set in the Yorkshire textile district in 1811-12, combined sympathy for the plight of the workers with a criticism of violence and a call for paternalism from the mill owners. (Brian Lewis)
Brontë WaterfallStation: HaworthDistance: 9kmThe Brontë sisters are legendary authors in British literature, and this two-hour route crosses the landscapes that inspired their work. From Haworth Station, climb the cobbled main street and cross the cemetery next to the Brontë Parsonage. Follow the signposted moorland track, reaching the falls and returning via the same path. (Eibhlis Gale-Coleman)
With a particular predilection for historical fiction, some of McGuirk’s early favorites were Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House on the Prairie series, Charlotte Brontë’s timeless classic Jane Eyre and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, which she loved so much, “I read it every six months throughout my entire childhood.” (Tripp Whetsell)
5. 'Wuthering Heights', 2011IMDb Score: 6.0/10Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights has been adapted for the screen more than a dozen times. In Andrea Arnold's version we are only introduced to the first half of the original's plot. Yet the atmosphere of Brontë's England, with its misty, heather-covered moors, is captured to perfection.The film opens with Mr. Earnshaw returning from a journey. He has brought back a dark-skinned teenager, a runaway from a West Indies plantation whom he found on the streets of Liverpool.Earnshaw names the boy Heathcliff. No one welcomes the new arrival, and the boy himself has a rough, rebellious nature. He finds common ground only with Earnshaw's daughter, Catherine. (Julia Talakh)
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëJane Eyre follows the journey of Jane, an independent woman who struggles against hardship while searching for love, respect, and personal freedom. Jane’s character teaches the importance of self-respect and staying true to personal values.Despite facing rejection, loneliness, and difficult circumstances, she refuses to sacrifice her identity to gain acceptance. The novel shows that real strength comes from knowing your worth and choosing authenticity over pleasing others. Jane’s journey inspires readers to build confidence and trust their own voice. (Saniya Ahmad Khan)
From silky slip dresses to pantsuits, this lightweight, sheer fabric is the perfect option for battling the summer heat while living out your "Wuthering Heights"-inspired fantasy. (Charlene Teressa)
by Pui Sang ChiuAdvisor: Jan SchrammUniversity of CambridgeJuly 2025This thesis explores the ethical representation of negative affect in the novels of Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot and Thomas Hardy through a study of narrative. Previous scholarship regarded negative emotions in Victorian stories as a sublimated excess to the structure of sympathy. While recent criticism seeks to recuperate a political dimension to ugly feelings, the consensus remains that novels of the canon reject non-cathartic affect: they promote nobler passions at the expense of minor ones. My project challenges this assumption that negative feelings disable the production of major works. I argue that they are neither subservient to the imperative of sympathy, nor exceeding formal control and closure. Rather, their marginality to the didactic discourse spotlights their pervasiveness in the story spaces. Their compression by conventional endings formalises the lived experiences of the many, whose struggle for an ethical middle lies afield from the individual epic. Through the lens of an unsympathetic poetic, I map the site of ugly feelings by asking what does not feel right in the novel. The presentation of narrative compromise as a moral choice betrays a rupture between form and valence; it implicates the reading of moral necessities as a formal tyranny. This asymmetry between storytelling and value-making complicates realism’s claim to authenticity. An aesthetic of the ordinary elevates potentialities in the individual, by also delimiting them to a provincial context. In this framework, petty emotions do not merely serve the lesson of overcoming egoism. Felt by the protagonists and minor characters alike, those sub-moral reactions mark the threshold between heroism and the everyday. While the exemplary individual may triumph over the small social conditions, the common he represents stands in evaluative judgment of that transcendence. Ugliness as a collective standard resists the formative logic of the Bildungsroman. Subtending the complexities of quotidian life, then, is a constellation of the “neighbourly”; an interpersonal horizon occupying the middle distance between fellowship and detachment.With the three canonical realist novelists, I analyse the compounded nexus between narrative and affective discontent. In Jane Eyre and Villette, I study a passive-aggressiveness in Brontë’s first-person narration. The narrator’s withholding displaces personal meanings from the vicinity of story. As local outbreaks of aggression reveal the boundary of interiority, an emotional intent becomes deflected from the content of expression. For Eliot, I read the affect of blame in conjunction with endings as a mechanism of judgment. From Adam Bede and The Mill on the Floss to Middlemarch, the closural impulse towards a retributive justice increasingly yields to a dynamic of lateral distribution. The novel’s capacity for moral deliberation produces negative states of deferral and compromise. Like the first two authors, Hardy registers the torsion between the general and particular and the tonal instability it creates. Together, Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the d’Urbervilles articulate a dialectic of irony and sincerity, which Jude the Obscure unravels. In embracing lateness, Hardy’s final novel also signals the end of a minor ethics in negative affect.
Hosted by producer Adam, the afternoon began with a heartfelt introduction that immediately set the tone. Rather than simply discussing the logistics of bringing the production to London, he shared the personal journey that led him to champion the musical's UK premiere.Having first discovered Jane Eyre as a young theatre fan in Toronto, Adam recalled becoming captivated by the original cast recording before eventually seeing the Broadway production. Years later, after rediscovering the musical, he tracked down co-creators John Caird and Paul Gordon, leading to the production now preparing to open in London. It was a reminder that this is very much a passion project as well as a theatrical production.That passion was echoed throughout the afternoon.Co-director Megan McGinnis spoke movingly about Jane Eyre not only as one of her favourite musicals but also as a deeply important feminist story. Nearly two centuries after Charlotte Brontë first introduced readers to Jane, her search for equality, independence and self-worth continues to resonate with modern audiences, making the novel as relevant today as it was in the Victorian era.John Caird expanded on those themes, describing Jane Eyre as far more than a romance. For him, it is fundamentally a story about moral growth, self-worth and mortality. He explained how Jane begins life with almost nothing, while Rochester appears to possess everything, before their emotional journeys gradually reverse as the story unfolds. It is this character-driven storytelling, he believes, that has allowed the novel to endure for generations.One of the most fascinating insights into the adaptation came as Caird explained the production's unique approach to narration.Rather than asking Charlie Burn, who plays Jane, to carry every moment of narration herself, the ensemble collectively becomes Jane's voice, allowing the audience to experience the story through multiple performers while remaining firmly rooted in Brontë's first-person perspective. It is an intriguing theatrical concept that immediately distinguishes this adaptation from previous versions.The rehearsal itself offered an exciting glimpse of what audiences can expect when the production opens. The company performed several musical excerpts that demonstrated not only the emotional depth of Paul Gordon's score but also the exceptional vocal ability throughout the cast. Even in a rehearsal environment, the commitment and chemistry between the performers was immediately apparent, creating genuine anticipation for the finished production.Equally impressive was the thought that has gone into the staging.Although designer Morgan Large was unable to attend in person, his creative vision was shared with those present. An open playing space, visible costume pegs, lanterns suspended above the stage and a landscape of thorns beneath combine to create a symbolic environment that reflects both Jane's longing for freedom and the emotional obstacles she faces throughout her journey. Rather than attempting to recreate every location from the novel, the design embraces theatrical simplicity, allowing the company and storytelling to remain at the heart of the production.Another creative decision that stood out was the choice to cast real children in the roles of Young Jane and Adèle. As the creative team explained, experiencing Jane's childhood through genuine young performers helps establish the emotional foundation upon which the entire story is built.Following the presentation, members of the media were given the opportunity to conduct breakout interviews with the cast and creative team before exploring the production's costume and design concepts.Over the coming weeks, The Fan Carpet will be bringing you a series of exclusive interviews from the rehearsal room, including conversations with co-director Megan McGinnis, co-book writer and co-director John Caird, Eve Shanu-Wilson, Emily-Rose Samuel, Poppy Rose Jason and Isabelle Methven, as we continue our coverage leading up to opening night.With rehearsals well underway, one thing was immediately clear: this is a company approaching one of English literature's greatest novels with enormous respect, while confidently embracing the possibilities that musical theatre offers. We look forward to seeing how that vision comes together when Jane Eyre opens at Southwark Playhouse Elephant later this month.
Matty Healy and Gabbriette’s wedding photos are finally here, and the dark romance of it all is truly bewitching. The string of photos—shared by the model in several separate Instagram posts—are chaotic, intentionally low-res, gothic, sexy, and filled with the yearning passion of every Emily Brontë novel—like Wuthering Heights but with grungy, rock ‘n’ roll, Hollywood types. (Rosa Sanchez)
It looked like a Kate Bush lookalike competition was underway in Stratford at the weekend.Dozens of residents – and a few familiar faces – turned out in red for The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever, held at the Bandstand, on Saturday (August 1).The flash mob was organised to celebrate the career and birthday of singer Kate Bush and also to raise funds for women’s domestic violence and health charities.The group of budding dancers joined thousands of people across the world recreating the video to Bush’s 1978 song Wuthering Heights, inspired by Emily Bronte’s novel.This is the second year the event has taken place in Stratford, organised by Stratford Town Trust and Stratford BID. (Philippa Mingins)
Also in Contrapunto (El Salvador).
The purple, treeless moors found across Britain’s uplands can look timeless and wild. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë described “the purple moors” as “a wilderness of heath”. Yet these moors have been shaped by clearance, drainage, grazing, pollution and burning. (Joe Glentworth, Anna Gilchrist and Ian Thornhill)
If you are in Germany, Filmstarts and Hitchecker recommend that you watch Emily 2022 on 3Sat today, August 5, 2026, at 10:30 p.m. on 3sat.
A production of Theatre CaddisWriter: Eleanor ZealDirector: Danielle ArkwrightWith Eleanor Zeal, Rachel Overd, Georgia Harris and Ben Everett Rile6th - 28th (not 10th and 18th) August at 12.25pmJust The Snifter Room at Just The Tonic at The Mash House, venue number 288At the world's first ever Jane Eyre Convention, slightly neurotic aficionados gather to reenact their favourite novel. They squabble and fight over the best bits, correct interpretation etc. Real emotions are experienced as they follow Jane on her journey, including running wailing across the moors. They also attempt to rescue shackled Bertha in the attic. Finally they gain new insights and generally feel better. Show contains unrealistic violence, bonnets and minimal raunch. It may be mildly therapeutic and audience participation is optional. Double Fringe First winners.
Indeed, Blanche Willis Howard’s immensely popular first novel, One Summer (1875), exemplified the archetype. Set in a community on the Maine coast, Howard’s enemies-to-friends novel tells the story of a spirited and independent young woman who coolly rebuffs the attentions of a young man after an awkward rainy-evening encounter. (He mistakes her for a maid.) By the summer’s end, they meet again in Bar Harbor, where she at last admits her love for him and the two become engaged.As ephemeral as the season they celebrated, many summer novels were popular (or at least advertised) for just a few months. One Summer, though, appeared in successive printings or illustrated gift editions well into the next century. In 1876, a year after its first publication, Publishers Weekly asked booksellers to identify their most saleable novels. One Summer ranked below Dinah Mulock Craik’s phenomenally popular John Halifax (1856) and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847) but ahead of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852). (Donna Harrington-Lueker)
Is the literary quality of romance fiction uniformly good? No, of course not. In any massive, varied genre, you are going to find some clunkers — but that is not unique to romance. A more serious critique is that some of these stories romanticize, and maybe encourage, toxic behavior. You could point to the sadism and obsessiveness of Christian Grey, from E.L. James’s “Fifty Shades of Grey”; the abduction and sexual assault in Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’s “The Flame and the Flower”; or even the deceptiveness and amorality of the hero in the romance-adjacent classic “Jane Eyre.” (Christine Larson)
This production succeeds not only as an historical drama, but also as a surprisingly funny and deeply human portrait of the siblings as they find their voices in a world determined to silence them.The design is striking in its simplicity. Costumes (by Clare Dewell) are minimal, yet cleverly used to distinguish each character, allowing the audience to focus on the performances rather than elaborate period detail.The set (by Nicola Webb) is similarly understated, but it never feels empty, instead drawing the audience into the Brontës’ world through imaginative staging. Particularly effective are the towering doors that instantly transport us into the intimidating atmosphere of London society. Projections added authenticity by using images taken from the real Brontë home although, while a thoughtful touch, perhaps were too high quality to preserve the period feel.Lighting (by Bruce Williams) is precise throughout, especially during split-stage scenes unfolding multiple locations and conversations simultaneously, and shifting seamlessly with each moment’s emotional tone, from the warmth of family intimacy to the harsher glare of public scrutiny.Sara Benbow’s musical arrangements deserve special mention, particularly her use of haunting choral pieces to connect scenes, creating a distinctly Victorian atmosphere. They also remind us that the Brontë sisters were talented musicians as well as writers.As we’ve come to expect from the Sinodun Players, the acting is particularly strong. Charlotte (Natalie Davies) dominates the stage and carries much of the performance with remarkable energy. Her portrayal combines witty comic timing with a raw emotional honesty that makes her feel completely real.Holly Smithson’s Emily is equally compelling, capturing powerful emotions with intensity while also embodying the understanding and lovable sister at the heart of the family.Anne (Sorrel Gibson) brings a touching innocence to the piece, offering a poignant insight into the experience of being a woman in the Victorian era and the way her more famous siblings overshadowed her.The three main actors bring a strong chemistry to the sisters and their interactions feel natural and established. The ensemble (Heather Banyard, Donna Thomson, Will Lidbetter, Dan Beauchamp, Martha Bullock and Alex Watts) transform into a variety of characters through subtle changes in voice and body language, and their reactions to the Brontës’ novels vividly convey the prejudice faced by women writers of the period, with Dan Beauchamp’s George sharply capturing the entitlement and attitudes of a Victorian gentleman. Dorothy Hirsch deserves enormous credit for the inventiveness of the staging.Moments such as the carriage ride, with ensemble members physically moving the wheels, are wonderfully theatrical, and having the sisters writing their novels in chalk on the stage floor is visually striking. Small details, like servants quietly cleaning up a smashed glass after a lively outburst, add a layer of realism that immerses the audience fully in the Victorian world.This is an imaginative production that sheds fresh light on the Brontë sisters and their creative lives. Thoughtful, funny and emotionally rich, Underdog: The Other Other Brontë never allows the audience a moment of boredom and leaves us with a renewed appreciation for the extraordinary women behind some of English literature’s greatest novels. (Lizzie Pannett)
“Wuthering Heights” took the opposite bet. Fennell even put the title in scare quotes — a warning that this was her version, not Emily Brontë’s. She amped up the sexuality, modernized the soundtrack with Charli XCX, and cast Jacob Elordi, a white Australian actor, as Heathcliff — a character Brontë explicitly describes as dark-skinned.The reviews split almost down the middle: 57% positive on Rotten Tomatoes and a 55 on Metacritic. Critics argued the film flattened a story about class and racial exclusion into glossy, decontextualized romance. Yet “Wuthering Heights” made $241.7 million worldwide against an $80 million budget. Creative risk didn’t work with the critics, but the discourse fed the box office.Put both side by side and the pattern becomes clear.Faithfulness and riskiness were never the real tests. What’s being measured is whether an adaptation matches the version each viewer has carried privately for years: a childhood memory, a favorite scene, one detail that mattered the first time. No writer’s room can adapt nostalgia. Audiences aren’t asking for the original story back. They are asking for a feeling. (Meghna Srikumar)
45. HathersageHathersage has strong literary connections - having inspired Charlotte Brontë while she was writing Jane Eyre. The nearby North Lees Hall (pictured here) also became the main inspiration for Thornfield Hall. The Grave of Little John, Robin Hood’s second-in-command, can be found at St. Michael’s Church in the heart of Hathersage. While there is little evidence proving he is buried here, ballads suggest that he originated from Hathersage and settled there again later in his life. (Tom Hardwick)
Boston Athenaeum, 10 1/2 Beacon Street, Boston, MA, 02108, United States08/05/26, 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM ET
by Marta Sánchez RomeraDepartamento de Filología Inglesa, Francesa y Alemana, Universidad de MálagaMay 2026Throughout this dissertation project, I will provide some context on how Victorian values affected the relationship between women, creating a bond that sometimes went further than a simple friendship. Since the category ‘’lesbianism’’ did not exist and homosexuality was widely seen as bad, Victorians romanticised these friendships and were blinded to the fact that something deeper could occur between them. In order to reflect all this, after giving some historical context and theory, I will analyse Villette by Charlotte Brontë, in which there is a clear subtext of sapphic desire, with the aim of revealing how lesbianism was portrayed and seen in the 19th century.
by Sara MaltonJournal of Victorian Culture, vcag014, https://doi.org/10.1093/jvcult/vcag014 (July 2026)This essay focuses on the nineteenth-century ‘fasting girl’, a phenomenon scrutinized in medical writing and the popular press, as well as the period’s literature. Fasting girls were typically purported to survive on only the Eucharist and sips of water – for weeks, months, or even years. They often became objects of intense public interest, alternately the locus of legal and medical enquiry or sites of pilgrimage. In evoking earlier fasting saints, whose behaviour was considered anorexia mirabilis, the fasting girl claims to embody the miraculous consequences of devotion to her saviour. The medical establishment would increasingly seek to discredit this earlier understanding of fasting. Cases such as that of the Welsh girl Sarah Jacob (1857–1869), who has been ‘resurrected’ by authors from Dickens to Emma Donoghue (in her recent historical novel, The Wonder [2016]), were at the nexus of this transition from the perception of self-imposed starvation as redemptive sacrifice to pathologized illness, anorexia nervosa (1873). Dickens offers varying treatments of fasting women in his journalism and his portrait of Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop (1841). Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley (1849) identifies maternal healing as a tonic to destructive, idolatrous forms of self-starvation. Finally, in its depiction of dangerous religious devotion and the limits of medicalization, The Wonder offers us a prism through which we can critically examine the ongoing cultural construction of the fasting girl. Collectively, the texts considered here invite a more thorough confrontation with the religious dimensions of female self-deprivation and its vexed relationship to female agency.
A ghost hunter says he has realised a lifelong ambition in launching a four-part series exploring paranormal activity in a historic Bradford district village.Jacob Haw-Wells, just 20 years old from Bradford, has created Haunted Haworth.It's a documentary-style series on YouTube that delves into eerie legends and supernatural reports in the iconic village of Haworth. (...)The series explores some of Haworth’s most intriguing locations, including Church Street, Haworth Old Hall Inn, the Old White Lion Hotel and Spooks.His investigations combine historical research with first-hand interviews.He said: "First I like to go to the location and speak to the owners, talk to people that have knowledge on the area, local businesses, people living in the surrounding area, I like to get them people on the show for interviews."The series follows real investigations into these locations while also highlighting Haworth's fascinating heritage and ghost stories." (Freya Thomson)
No me llamen exagerada, que yo con estos ojos que se ha de comer la tierra presencié en el Teatro Español de Madrid un brutal atropello teatral de Jane Eyre, la obra de Charlotte Brontë donde una mujer –bastante 'odiseica', por cierto– construye su destino y sus sentimientos de espaldas a los corsés de la época y asumiendo cierta humana imperfección, tentativa de poligamia incluida. Intentar convertir eso en un cántico a la sororidad, con la protagonista lanzando salvas solidarias a la neurasténica esposa del hombre que ama y que la ama... en fin. (Anna Grau) (Translation)
Jane Eyre: A New Musical, The Journey to SelfAugust 13, 2026 to August 16, 2026889 Dongdaming Road 东大名路889号Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre" has been given a brand-new musical adaptation, which will be presented to Shanghai audiences from August 13 to 16 at AIA Grand Theater.This story of freedom, dignity, selfhood, and love is familiar to many. Jane's poignant question – Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? – has moved countless readers over the years.This new musical unfolds Jane's story in nine chapters. It is as if she has traveled across 180 years to the present, showing audiences through her actions that one can be plain, poor, or even unloved, but must always stay true to oneself."Many people tend to see Jane Eyre as a symbol of the nineteenth century; a textbook icon of the 'independent woman,' or a romantic legend," said director and musical singer Jin Shengquan."In fact, her dilemmas are our dilemmas, and her defiance is exactly what we long for. Her wholeness lies in her ability to remain self-possessed while also daring to love deeply," he added.Jin hopes that the musical, created in a contemporary theatrical language, will give this "female epic" a fresh look and inspire today's audiences.
Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, at 3 p.m. in the lower level of Artworks, 106 N. Michigan Ave., Big Rapids, MIWuthering Heights"Wuthering Heights" is a challenging but memorable read because the novel does not offer a simple love story or a clear division between good and evil. There is a dark atmosphere surrounding "Wuthering Heights" and Thrushcross Grange. The reader is pulled into a world shaped by obsession, pride, revenge, class expectations, and emotional suffering. (...)Reading Wuthering Heights is unsettling because many of the characters are difficult to admire. Brontë does not ask readers to approve or condemn them. Instead, she asks us to think about how love, pride, class, and suffering shape people’s choices. It is a story that stays with the reader because it shows both the destructive power of obsession and the possibility of healing through compassion. (Barbara Ross)
HaworthHandsome, cobbled Haworth, former home of the Brontë sisters, is threatened by the construction of England’s largest wind farm.If approved, the Calderdale Energy Park will sit on the moors above the village where the Brontës wandered and composed. A total of 34 turbines – scaled back from an initial 61 – will blight the skyline, ruining the special atmosphere of places associated with the sisters such as Top Withens, the remote ruined farmhouse that inspired Wuthering Heights. “People come to Haworth to see the landscape and it will have a hugely negative impact on that,” said Robbie Moore, the Conservative MP for Keighley and Ilkley, whose constituency includes Haworth. (Christopher Winn)
The long running soap-opera Days of Our Lives (currently on Peacock) has featured Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights as a recurring plot device connecting the characters Cat Greene (AnnaLynne McCord) and EJ DiMera (Dan Feuerriegel) since October 2025. The novel has appeared in scenes spanning a bookstore introduction, a recovered memory, two rounds of hypnosis, and the reveal of an ISA investigation. Below is a chronological record of the confirmed on-screen events, dated by episode air date or recap publication.
At Julie's newly acquired bookstore, Foster asks Cat Greene whether she has read Wuthering Heights. Cat says she doesn't think so, though she is drawn to a particular edition. EJ DiMera arrives shortly after and is also drawn to the same book. (Soaps.com/SheKnows recap; Celeb Dirty Laundry)
November 11, 2025 — Cat's memory fragmentAfter an encounter with Sami Brady, Cat has a flash of memory: Sami standing beside a bandaged man in a hospital room. Cat recalls reading Wuthering Heights to that same man. The location is later identified as a clinic in Italy, where Cat underwent facial reconstruction after a car accident, and where EJ was recovering after being shot and presumed dead. (Soap Opera News)
February–March 2026 — Continued reading
EJ asks Marlena Evans to hypnotize him in order to recover memories of his time at the Italian clinic. Marlena agrees. (Soap Hub)
May 27, 2026 — First hypnosis session (EJ)Marlena hypnotizes EJ. Under hypnosis, he returns mentally to the clinic and hears Cat reading Wuthering Heights to him, but cannot recall further detail. Marlena, judging that he is forcing the memory, ends the session. (Soaps.com/SheKnows; Celeb Dirty Laundry; The Soap Scene; TVMEG; Daytime Confidential)
June 1, 2026 — Second hypnosis session (EJ)
Cat undergoes hypnosis herself. She recalls reading Wuthering Heights to EJ, him squeezing her hand as she read, and a kiss she gave him on the cheek. During the same session, Marlena determines that Cat has been working for the ISA, and Cat confirms this, including that her position as EJ's assistant was part of the operation. (Celeb Dirty Laundry; TVMEG)
Further information and context on Daily Soap Dish (November 2025) and Daily Soap Dish (May 2026).
The Brontë Sisters. All born in Thornton, Bradford, but more closely associated with Haworth where they were raised and penned their celebrated novels, the Brontë sisters created some of the most iconic and beloved works in English literature. From The Tenant of Wildfell Hall to Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, these novels have captivated and enchanted millions of readers. (Sebastian McCormick)
Cada julio, cientos de personas rinden homenaje al fantasma de Cathy, protagonista de la novela de Emily Brontë; a la vez que celebran el cumpleaños de dos mujeres que marcaron el arte británico. (...)El videoclip, en el que Kate Bush aparece bailando descalza con un largo vestido rojo y que encarna el fantasma de Catherine Earnshaw, terminó convirtiéndose en una de las imágenes más icónicas del pop británico y es justamente esa escena la que recrean las participantes, llamadas a sí mismas Cathys, durante la particular celebración anual.Pocas novelas han dejado una huella tan inmensa como Cumbres borrascosas. La única obra de Emily Brontë ha sido —y sigue siendo— una fuente de inspiración para incontables adaptaciones cinematográficas y televisivas. La más reciente llegó a la gran pantalla este mismo año, constatando que el relato de Catherine y Heathcliff sigue fascinando a nuevas generaciones. (Elsa Saom) (Translation)
The Newcastle event is also on the Newcastle Herald, and the Haworth one is mentioned in the BBC.
This Dark Night: The Life of Emily Brontë by Deborah LutzA new biography drawing on previously unexplored archival materials to examine her life and creative process. Also published by Bloomsbury.
[David] Morrissey plays Michael Polly, an English headmaster who falls under suspicion after the disappearance of his wife, Sarah. As taciturn as Jane Eyre’s Mr. Rochester, Michael is seemingly incapable of rising to the emotional moment, insisting, for example, that he is still the man to coach the school’s rugby squad even as Sarah’s body turns up in a nearby woods. (Graham Hillard)
According to Steinman, the song was inspired by Wuthering Heights and was intended as "the most passionate, romantic song" he could create. Meat Loaf, who had collaborated with Steinman on many of his hit songs, had wanted to record the track for years, but Steinman refused, saying he viewed it as a "woman's song".
But it’s great that people are engaging with these ideas. We are in a resurgence of humanities in cinema. Wuthering Heights came out and everybody was suddenly talking about how faithful it was to Heathcliff. A similar thing happened with Hamnet. That’s the kind of back-and-forth we’ve been sorely lacking for a while. (Bilge Ebiri)
Finally, the Brontë Birthplace publishes how the Elizabeth Gaskell's Society recently visited them in Thornton.
Mon Aug 3rd - Fri 7thTutors: Clare O'Callaghan and Michael StewartEmily Brontë’s only published novel, Wuthering Heights, is one of the greatest and most famous novels ever written, but she is also the author of over two hundred wonderful poems, and a very accomplished artist. Unlike her sisters, she chose to spend her time mainly at home in Haworth, walking, reading and writing. Her status within the world of literature is that of a cult figure but also an icon. She has become the very image of the reclusive writer, but who is the real Emily behind the myths that have been constructed around her since her death in December 1848?This week-long course will set out to challenge and explore the mythology around this most enigmatic character. It takes place in Haworth, in the heart of Brontë Country. It will also explore in-depth her life and work, looking at her prose and poetry as well as her artwork. It will feature seminars, lectures, guided walks and special events ran by Br
Unless explicitly said
